The Correspondence between the Five Aggregates and the Eighteen Elements Shows the Importance of the Manas and Mental Factors

The conceptual scope and functional role of the aggregate of form, the conceptual scope and functional role of the aggregate of feeling, the conceptual scope and functional role of the aggregate of perception, the conceptual scope and functional role of the aggregate of volitional formations, the conceptual scope and functional role of the aggregate of consciousness, as well as the conceptual scope and functional roles of the six faculties (the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and manas), the conceptual scope and functional roles of the six sense objects, and the conceptual scope and functional roles of the six consciousnesses — what are each of these? What are their correspondences? To which of the five aggregates do the eighteen dhātus specifically correspond?

The five faculties, the five sense objects, and the mental sense object correspond to the aggregate of form. The six consciousnesses and the manas correspond to the aggregate of consciousness together with the aggregates of feeling, perception, and volitional formations. Feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are intimately connected with the seven consciousnesses; form is also connected with consciousness — without consciousness there would be no aggregate of form consisting of the five faculties. But ordinary people cannot observe the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the manas; even the functions of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the five consciousnesses cannot be clearly distinguished by most people. Therefore, in the teachings of the Small Vehicle, the functions of the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the manas are generally not mentioned.

The aggregate of form is accumulated from the seeds of the four great elements, while the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are accumulated from the seeds of consciousness. The seeds of consciousness alone cannot perform any function; they must operate in coordination with the mental factors (caittas). Therefore, the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are precisely the functional roles of the mental factors, corresponding to the feeling mental factor, the perception mental factor, and the volition mental factor among the five universally operative mental factors, and also including the mental factors of attention (manaskāra) and contact (sparśa). The mental factors of the six consciousnesses cannot be separated from the mental factors of the manas; if the mental factors of the manas do not operate, there would be no six consciousnesses at all, nor the mental factors of the six consciousnesses. Therefore, the five aggregates and the eighteen dhātus should correspond to one another one-to-one: the first five faculties and five sense objects correspond to the aggregate of form, while the manas, the mind consciousness, and the five consciousnesses correspond to the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. The general commander that sets all these dharmas in motion is the manas, and the commander-in-chief is the tathāgatagarbha.